Posted by: Johnnie F.

Sounds very logic to me, that people feel uncertain and depressed, if the future of a country depends upon an even split in society. It's difficult to identify oneself as belonging to "a majority" or "a minority". About the same applies to the US now: people either gotta be for Trump or against Trump. There are just two groups confronting each other. One can either be a friend or a foe; and that makes people depressed. Who knows who will be tomorrow on your or the other side? One cannot run with the crowd or be individualist, if there is no clear line.

Posted by: thaiga

Hundreds of thousands take to streets in London demanding second Brexit vote

Hundreds of thousands of supporters of the European Union marched through London on Saturday (Oct 20) in the biggest demonstration so far to demand that the British government holds a public vote on the terms of Brexit.

The protesters waved the blue and gold flag of the EU and held up "B******s to Brexit" banners under sunny skies to call for another referendum on the eventual deal on how Britain will leave the world's biggest trading bloc.

The march comes after another tumultuous week for Prime Minister Theresa May in which she failed to agree a divorce deal with EU leaders in Brussels and infuriated members of her own party by making further concessions in the talks.

With just over five months until Britain is due to leave there is no clarity about what a future trade deal with the EU will look like and some rebels in May's Conservative Party have threatened to vote down a deal if she clinches one.

James McGrory, one of the organisers of the march, said voters should have the chance to change their minds because the decision will impact their lives for generations.

"People think the Brexit negotiations are a total mess, they have no faith in the government to deliver the promises that were made, partly because they cannot be delivered," he said.

At the march, demonstrators carried placards saying "Brexit is pants", "Time for an EU turn" and "European and proud."

Organisers said about 700,000 people took part in the march, which would make it the largest in Britain since a demonstration against the Iraq war in 2003.

The "People's Vote" campaign, which includes several pro-EU groups, said they had stewards stationed at regular intervals to estimate the size of the crowd. The police did not provide an independent estimate of numbers participating.

Protesters originally gathered near Hyde Park and then walked past Downing Street and finished outside parliament where they listened to politicians from all main political parties.BREXIT REVERSED?

Britain's 2016 referendum saw 52 per cent vote in favour of leaving the European Union. But the past two years have been politically fraught as the government has struggled to agree on a plan and there are fears that Britain could leave the bloc without a deal.

Some opinion polls have shown a slight shift in favour of remaining in the European Union, but there has yet to be a decisive change in attitudes and many in Britain say they have become increasingly bored by Brexit.

The prime minister has repeatedly ruled out holding a second referendum. The opposition Labour party's Brexit spokesman said last month his party open to a second referendum with the option of staying in the bloc in certain circumstances.

In Belfast in Northern Ireland, around 2,000 people gathered on Saturday to oppose Brexit.

Brendan Heading, a 39-year-old IT worker, said he was worried the decision to leave the EU would damage the economy and could lead to the break up of the United Kingdom.

"I feel that Brexit threatens prosperity and stability," he said. "People should have the opportunity to vote for an alternative based on what we now know." Brexit supporters held their own rally in the town of Harrogate in the north of England.

Richard Tice, Vice-Chairman of Leave Means Leave and one of the speakers at the event, described the people on the march in London as "losers" and said a second referendum would trigger a constitutional crisis.

"We had a vote, we voted to leave, the idea to have a second referendum would be incredibly damaging," he said.

"People need to be under no illusions as to how people feel about what is a significant potential for a total betrayal of democracy in this

Posted by: Newsy

Still one-in-four chance of Britain leaving EU without deal: economists

There is still a one-in-four chance Britain and the European Union part ways in less than six months without reaching a deal, according to a Reuters poll taken as EU leaders prepare to meet in Brussels later this week.

The stubborn problem of resolving the United Kingdom’s post-Brexit land border with Ireland thwarted an effort over the weekend to clinch a deal before this week’s EU summit as negotiators admitted defeat after marathon talks.

Both sides want to finalize talks by mid-November to give parliaments in London and Brussels time to approve a deal before Britain otherwise crashes out in March, an outcome that would plunge businesses and millions of citizens into a chaotic and costly legal limbo.

British Prime Minister Theresa May faces stiff opposition at home and abroad to her plans and is struggling with deep divisions in her own party. Boris Johnson, her former foreign minister and figurehead of Britain’s Brexit campaign, said talks were “now entering the moment of crisis”.

May said on Monday she continues to believe a deal is achievable and real progress had been made in recent weeks on both the withdrawal agreement and future relationship. She also said progress had been made on Northern Ireland, the UK’s only land border with the EU.

When asked what probability they attached to the likelihood of a disorderly Brexit - where no divorce deal is reached - economists questioned largely before the talks hit an impasse gave a median 25 percent, unchanged from a September poll. The highest forecast was 80 percent.

“A deal is still more likely than not,” said Kallum Pickering at Berenberg. “At any rate, the range of possible outcomes remains wide. But then again, did anyone seriously think this would be a walk in the park?”

The most likely eventual outcome is the two sides reaching a free trade agreement, the poll taken Oct. 9-15 found, as has been predicted since Reuters first began polling on this two years ago.

In second spot was leaving without an agreement and trading under basic World Trade Organization rules. Holding in third place was Britain belonging to the European Economic Area, paying to maintain full access to the EU’s single market.

Keeping its position as least likely was Brexit being canceled. No respondent pegged this as most likely.

HOLDING PATTERN

With little clarity as to how Britain will part ways with the EU, the respondents did not expect the Bank of England to adjust monetary policy until after March’s departure.

They forecast that it would lift the Bank Rate by 25 basis points to 1.0 percent in the second quarter of next year and follow that up with a matching increase in early 2020.

British inflation jumped after the Brexit vote, mostly driven by a slump in sterling, and is not expected back at the BoE’s 2 percent target until late next year. It will average 2.5 percent this year and 2.1 percent next, the poll said.

Growth will remain robust, albeit slower than expected for Britain’s peers. The UK economy is predicted to expand 1.3 percent this year, 1.5 percent in 2019 and 1.6 percent in 2020, the poll of over 80 economists found.

When asked about the chance of a recession in the coming year, economists collectively gave it a relatively low 20 percent. That rose to 25 percent when asked about the coming two years.

“Unless the Brexit negotiations collapse, the likelihood of a full-blown recession remains low,” said Peter Dixon at Commerzbank.

Posted by: Johnnie F.

"There is a better solution... It is the Super Canada, zero tariff, zero quota, free trade deal at the heart of a deep and special partnership. It is right for both sides, and it is time to go for it."

Wow, he can do the thinking for "both sides"!

What I hear from the European side, most people are glad to let May go with a hard brexit. No more nagging and demanding extra deals by the Brits in Brussels.

Posted by: thaiga

Time to stand up to EU bullies on Brexit, says UK ex-foreign minister Johnson

Britain should stop being pushed around by the European Union and press for a "super Canada" free trade deal, former foreign minister Boris Johnson said, increasing pressure on his former boss, Prime Minister Theresa May, over Brexit.

In his weekly column in the Telegraph newspaper to be published on Monday (Oct 15), Mr Johnson, who was the figurehead of the campaign to leave the EU, said the Brexit negotiations were entering a "moment of crisis" and that Mrs May should change tack.

"There comes a point when you have to stand up to bullies. After more than two years of being ruthlessly pushed around by the EU, it is time for the UK to resist," he wrote.

"There is a better solution... It is the Super Canada, zero tariff, zero quota, free trade deal at the heart of a deep and special partnership. It is right for both sides, and it is time to go for it."

Posted by: Newsy

British Prime Minister Theresa May and her main rival Boris Johnson battled Tuesday to woo their Conservative party members, as the European Union raised the pressure on London to offer compromises to reach a Brexit deal.

Johnson will make his long-anticipated speech to the party's annual conference in Birmingham, central England, where he is expected to repeat his attacks on May's strategy for leaving the EU.

Aides to the charismatic former foreign minister said he would also cover a wide range of domestic issues, reinforcing speculation that he is making a pitch for May's job.

In broadcast interviews on Tuesday, the prime minister acknowledged Johnson's speech would be a "lively" event, and called for her party to "come together".

But she ensured she dominated the headlines by announcing a new immigration policy -- something that was not expected until Wednesday, and will address many Tory members' concerns.

Free movement of EU workers was a key issue in the 2016 vote for Brexit, and May confirmed that Europeans would be treated the same as non-EU citizens in future.

Her public battle with Johnson comes just weeks before May must return to Brussels in a bid to break the deadlock in Brexit negotiations and reach a deal.

The prime minister hinted at a possible compromise on how to keep the land border with Ireland open after Brexit, a key sticking point in the EU talks, on which London is due to publish new plans shortly.

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker meanwhile warned that London's threat to walk away from the negotiations without a deal would have consequences.

"We want a deal. Those who think no deal would be the better solution are not aware of the difficulties such a scenario would imply," he told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

- Alternative plan -

Johnson was a leading campaigner for Brexit in the referendum. Even after being appointed foreign minister he continually challenged May's EU strategy.

He quit in July in protest at her plan for Britain to follow EU rules in goods after Brexit, which she says will protect cross-border trade but he argues would keep London tied to the bloc well into the future.

The EU has also rejected the plan, saying it undermines the bloc's cherished single market.

Numerous eurosceptic Conservative MPs have already drawn big crowds in Birmingham as they offer their own idea for a looser trade arrangement with the EU.

Johnson endorses the same alternative proposal, but the maverick former London mayor has particular star power, and his lunchtime address in a 1,500-capacity hall is expected to be packed.

"He's not a details guy, but he's a guy who has vision. And he's a winner," said Ian Burgess, a delegate in his 60s from Somerset in western England.

Think he's a clown

Johnson is known for his wit and confrontational style, and before the event he posed for a press photograph in a field of long grass.

It clearly mocked May, who once said the naughtiest thing she had done was run through a field of wheat.

But Johnson's recent comments about her Brexit plan, calling it "deranged" and saying it strapped a suicide vest to the British constitution, have angered many fellow MPs.

Several former colleagues used the conference to make jokes at his expense, while finance minister Philip Hammond said his alternative Brexit plan was "fantasy".

Even former Brexit minister David Davis, a fellow eurosceptic who describes Johnson as a "great mate", said many of his ideas "are good headlines but not necessarily good policies".

Among the delegates, there is also unease about Johnson's public disagreements with May.

Amandeep Garcha, a 21-year-old student activist from Derby, backs Johnson's Brexit position, but said: "When you're high up in the ranks, you should deal with these things privately."

Mike Kay, a 34-year-old delegate from Manchester in northwest England, added: "He has a kind of charisma that so few others do. But he is very divisive, that's a problem.

"A large section of the country thinks he is a clown."

Posted by: Taman Tun

Yes, would be good if she were replaced as PM. She did something to redeem herself yesterday but it was too little and too late. The trouble with May is that she is so suburban. The country needs a true Brexit believing PM to carry out its democratic wishes.

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Looks like PM May still doesn't understand the impact of her "plan to be respected" on the EU member Ireland with the only land border to the UK, and that the 27 EU countries just stick to each other on that point. Is it just the problem of not letting a colony go (back) to their own culture and rules? Probably she won't last very much longer as PM. Might be good for the UK!

Posted by: Newsy

The pound dropped the most since November after British Prime Minister Theresa May warned on Friday that Brexit negotiations were at an impasse.

Sterling fell below US$1.31 as May said the UK and European Union were a long way apart on two big issues and reiterated that no deal was better than a bad deal.

Friday’s newspaper front pages in Britain talked of May’s “humiliation” at the Salzburg summit of EU leaders, 10 days ahead of the annual Conservative Party conference where she will face intense scrutiny.

May on Friday hit back at the EU for flatly rejecting her Brexit plans, accusing the bloc of failing to treat the UK with respect, as the stalemate in negotiations deepened.

The prime minister revived a warning that no deal is better than a bad deal, a day after EU leaders bluntly told her that her blueprint for the divorce won’t work.

In a statement in London, a day after EU leaders used their meeting to tell her that her approach won’t work, May told them it was “not acceptable to simply reject” her plan.

On Wednesday, May was left looking isolated after leaders told her to rework her plans, and set her a deadline of next month to come back with new ideas. British officials had been hoping for warmer words from European leaders at the Austrian event -- to bolster May as she prepares for her party’s conference.

“Throughout this process I have treated the EU with nothing but respect. The UK expects the same. A good relationship at the end of this process depends on it” and “at this late stage in the negotiations it’s not acceptable to simply reject the other side’s proposals without a detailed explanation and counter proposals,” she said at her 10 Downing Street residence on Friday.

The prime minister said in March that she wouldn’t be “buffeted” by calls to walk away from talks, but as the tone of negotiations deteriorated on Thursday, she hinted that she might have changed her mind. She said the UK would continue to prepare for a no deal exit.

The pound dropped as much as 1.4% against the dollar as May spoke, the most on a closing basis since November. It was trading 1.3% lower at 1.3095 at mid-afternoon in London.

Britain is due to leave the EU in March, with or without a deal. If there’s no divorce agreement, there will be no transition -- a two-year grace period designed to prevent the country and its businesses tumbling into a legal limbo.

“May seems willing to call the EU’s bluff here, sticking to her guns,” said Valentin Marinov, head of Group-of-10 foreign-exchange research at Credit Agricole. “Trading the pound off the Brexit headlines has been plagued by fatigue in recent days, and we may see a bit of revival in the downside pound hedges.”

Posted by: thaiga

Prime Minister Theresa May appealed directly to fellow European leaders on Wednesday to drop "unacceptable" Brexit demands that she said could rip Britain apart, and urged the bloc to respond in kind to her "serious and workable" plan.

Over Wiener schnitzel in Salzburg, Mrs May tried to win over the leaders of the European Union by effectively asking them what they would do if they were asked to agree a "legal separation" of their countries - something she says the EU is asking for by insisting Northern Ireland might stay under EU economic rules.

It may be a high-risk strategy. EU officials again said Britain had to move its own position over what has become known as the Irish backstop - how to avoid erecting border posts between the British province and EU member Ireland - as well as on future economic cooperation after Brexit day in March.

A government source suggested Britain would come up with other proposals to try to reach agreement on Northern Ireland "in due course", but Mrs May has so far been reluctant to move from her Chequers plan, hashed out at her country home in July.

With just over six months to Brexit day, both sides agree on one point - that time is running out to secure a deal that will mark Britain's biggest policy shift in almost half a century.

"I believe that I have put forward serious and workable proposals. We will of course not agree on every detail, but I hope that you will respond in kind," she told the other leaders at the Felsenreitschule theatre -- known to film fans for a scene in the musical 'The Sound of Music'.

"The onus is now on all of us to get this deal done," she said, according to the senior British government source.

BORDER PLAN "NOT CREDIBLE"

The talks, which have gone on for over a year, are bogged down in how to ensure that what will become Britain's only land border with the EU, between Northern Ireland and Ireland, will not become home again to the checks and tensions of the past.

Mrs May has rejected an EU proposal to keep the province in a customs union with the bloc if they fail to reach a deal to keep the entire EU-UK border open, instead offering a time-limited customs arrangement that would cover the whole of Britain.

Over dinner, she said the problem could be solved by securing the type of "frictionless trade" envisaged in her Chequers plan, and that Britain was still committed to agreeing a fall-back scheme with the EU.

"However, the Commission's proposal for this protocol - that I should assent to a legal separation of the United Kingdom into two customs territories - is not credible," she said.

Mrs May has shown little sign of moving away from her Brexit plan, shrugging off criticism not only from Brussels but also at home over her proposals for future trade relations and Northern Ireland.

She may have little option. Facing the annual Conservative Party conference later this month, she is keen to show hardline Brexiters who have called on her to "chuck Chequers" that her plan is the only one that can be negotiated with the EU.

And, possibly for that audience, she told the EU leaders that although time was short, "delaying or extending these negotiations is not an option" and rule out the option of a second referendum on Britain's EU membership.

EU officials are minded not to paint Mrs May into a corner, aware of the increasing opposition to her plans in her Conservative Party, and that she needs a victory of sorts to persuade a reluctant parliament to back a deal.

But while they were keen to emphasise the positive movement seen in the Chequers plan, some said no deal could be reached until there was movement from Britain on Northern Ireland.

Posted by: Newsy

British Prime Minister Theresa May insisted her Brexit plan was the only alternative to leaving the EU without an agreement -- something the IMF said Monday would inflict "substantial costs" on the UK economy.

Despite strong opposition in her Conservative party and criticism in Brussels, Mrs May has stuck by the so-called Chequers proposal to keep close trade ties with the European Union after Brexit on March 29 next year.

"The alternative to that will be not having a deal," she told the BBC in an interview out Monday

Mrs May will meet EU leaders in Salzburg on Wednesday and Thursday, as she seeks a breakthrough in talks on the Brexit divorce and the future UK-EU trading relationship.

The International Monetary Fund on Monday said Britain's economy would suffer "substantial costs" should it leave the EU without a deal.

Brussels and London have failed to resolve "fundamental" aspects of Brexit and this could leave London defaulting to World Trade Organization (WTO) tariffs, the IMF said in its annual outlook on the UK economy.

"Fundamental questions -- such as the future economic relationship between the two and the closely related question of the status of the land border with Ireland -- remain unanswered," it noted in a statement.

"Resolving these questions is critical to avoid a 'no-deal' Brexit on WTO terms that would entail substantial costs for the UK economy -- and to a lesser extent the EU economies -- particularly if it were to occur in a disorderly fashion," the IMF added.

Problems in parliament

The gloomy assessment contrasts with that of Mrs May, who indicated last week that a no-deal hard Brexit would not be a disaster for Britain.

Mrs May remains confident of striking an acceptable deal with Brussels.

But even if she gets an accord in the coming weeks, it must be signed off in parliament, where she can only muster a slender majority.

The main opposition Labour party's Brexit spokesman said Sunday that it could not back a deal unless it delivered the "exact same benefits" as Britain currently has inside the single market and customs union -- an unlikely prospect.

That would mean only a small number of Mrs May's Conservative MPs need to rebel in order to bring down her blueprint -- and plenty of hardcore Brexiteers are infuriated by it.

Mrs May expressed confidence parliament would approve the deal -- but warned there was no alternative if Britain wanted to avoid a "no deal" scenario.

"Do we really think... that if parliament was to say, 'No, go back and get a better one', do we really think the EU is going to give a better deal at that point?" she said.

Mrs May has proposed that Britain follow EU rules in trade in goods after Brexit, to protect manufacturing supply lines and avoid a "hard border" between Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland.

Mrs May also insisted no other plan on the table would ensure "frictionless" trade on the island of Ireland.

Kurz: Avoid hard Brexit

But critics say her proposal would tie Britain too closely to the EU and argue that the Irish issue can be resolved through trusted trader schemes and the use of technology.

Former foreign minister Boris Johnson, who quit in July in protest at the Chequers plan, launched a fresh attack on it in his weekly newspaper column on Monday.

"The whole thing is a constitutional abomination," Mr Johnson, who has previously compared the plan to a "suicide vest", wrote in The Daily Telegraph.

Austria holds the EU's rotating presidency and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the EU should strain to strike a deal with London at the Salzburg summit.

"We have to do everything possible to avoid a hard Brexit and to make possible that there will be a strong cooperation between the UK and the European Union," Mr Kurz said Monday ahead of talks with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Mr Macron added that it was "essential that we find a deal, that the rules of cohesion and protection of Europe, of its single market, are fully preserved while the United Kingdom respects the vote by its people".

Posted by: thaiga

The cofounder of fashion brand Superdry is donating £1 million to fund a second Brexit referendum

The British millionaire founder of clothing brand Superdry is donating £1 million to a group trying to secure a second referendum on the UK's final Brexit deal.

Julian Dunkerton is donating the sum to campaign group the People's Vote, according to the Observer. The People's Vote is a campaign group set up in April 2018 calling for a vote on the final terms of Britain's exit from the EU. The group was set up by campaigners and MPs from across the political spectrum. It is led by Labour MP Chuka Umunna.

Dunkerton told the Observer: "I’m putting some of my money behind the People’s Vote campaign because we have a genuine chance to turn this around.

"It’s becoming clear there is no vision for Brexit and the politicians have made a mess of it. Increasingly, the public knows that Brexit is going to be a disaster. Maybe they just need to be given that little bit of hope that comes when they see how opinion is moving."

The deadline for Britain leaving the EU is March 2019 and it is looking increasingly likely that Britain will crash out of the bloc without any agreement on future trading relations. Britain's International Trade Secretary Liam Fox warned in recent weeks that the likelihood of a "no deal" scenario has risen to 60% and it emerged this week that the government is drawing up emergency plans for what to do if this is the case.

The People's Vote wants Brits to be given a vote on the final terms of Britain's exit from the EU, with the option to remain in the bloc if the public decides that the plan for leaving isn't good enough.

Dunkerton's donation will fund "one of the most detailed polling exercises ever undertaken by a campaign," he told the Observer. The polling will look at whether there is an appetite for a second vote across the UK. YouGov polling earlier this month found 45% of people support a People's Vote on the final deal, while 34% do not.

Dunkerton cofounded Superdry in Cheltenham, England, in 2003 and floated the business on the London stock exchange in 2010. Superdry has a market value of over £900 million and had sales of £752 million in 2017. Dunkerton left the business earlier this year but is still the largest single shareholder, with a stake of just over 18%. The Telegraph estimated his net worth earlier this year at £350 million.

Dunkerton told the Observer: "If Brexit had happened 20 years earlier, Superdry would never have become the global success that it did. We would have struggled to cope with negotiating customs and tariffs."

Posted by: thaiga

Britain's vote to leave the European Union could "in theory" be reversed although there is a still a strong probability it will go ahead, said the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici on Monday.

Moscovici was replying on French radio to a question related to a move by the co-founder of fashion brand Superdry to donate a million pounds ($1.28 million) to the campaign for a referendum on the final Brexit agreement.

Asked whether the Brexit vote could be reversed, Moscovici told France Inter radio: "It is, in theory...it is up to the British themselves who have made the decision to leave, to decide ultimately if they will or not, and how they will do it."

"The probability of Brexit is nevertheless very strong because there has been a vote of the people, a referendum..." added Moscovici.

Asked if there would definitely be a deal between Britain and the European Union regarding the terms of Brexit, Moscovici also replied: "Not necessarily." REUTERS

Posted by: thaiga

The risk of a no-deal Brexit has been increasing and the European Union commission needs to change its attitude if a deal is to be reached, British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said on Tuesday.

"Everyone needs to prepare for the possibility of a chaotic no-deal Brexit," Hunt told reporters in Helsinki.

With less than eight months until Britain quits the EU, the government has yet to agree a divorce deal with Brussels and has stepped up planning for the possibility of leaving the bloc without any formal agreement.

"I think the risk of a no Brexit deal has been increasing recently ... there is absolutely no guarantee that we will get a deal," Hunt said after a meeting with his Finnish counterpart Timo Soini.

"But it's not what anyone wants and I hope very much that we'll find a way to avoid that ... the British government has been doing everything it can to avoid that outcome," he said.

"We do need to see a change in approach by the European Commission."

Both London and Brussels say they want to get a divorce deal at the Oct. 18 EU Council, but diplomats think that target date is too optimistic. EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier rejected key elements of British Prime Minister Theresa May's new trade proposals last month.

Economists say a failure to agree the terms of the divorce would cause serious harm to the world's No.5 economy as trade with the EU, Britain's largest market, would become subject to tariffs.

Supporters of Brexit say there may be some short-term pain for the economy but that long-term it will prosper when cut free from the EU. Meanwhile, some lawmakers are pushing for a rerun of the 2016 referendum. REUTERS

Posted by: thaiga

Green, who runs a Miners’ Welfare Club in an area where there are no longer any working miners, says both of Britain’s main political parties have shown no interest in the Yorkshire town of Knottingley for generations.

“It’s desperate really - I feel that Knottingley is a forgotten community, and all the surrounding areas are forgotten communities as well, through lack of investment and red tape,” he said, standing in a youth boxing gym at the club.

The 55-year-old former railwayman is not alone. Such anger drove many Britons to vote to leave the European Union in 2016, though tumult in the Brexit process has prompted some supporters of EU membership to call for a rerun of the referendum.

Posted by: thaiga

GREAT YARMOUTH, England - Leaning over the counter of his seafood stall in the English seaside town of Great Yarmouth, Darran Nichols-George says those still moaning about the British vote to leave the European Union need to stop complaining.

"At the end of the day we live in a democracy and therefore they've had the vote," said 51-year-old Nichols-George, peering over cartons of prawns, crabs, mussels and jellied eels.

"We voted out so we're going to go out."

The fishmonger was one of the 17.4 million Britons who voted to quit the EU in a 2016 referendum, giving the Brexit campaign victory over the 16.1 million voters who wanted to stay.

Since then, Brexit has never been far from the headlines, from difficult talks with the EU and leaks of government forecasts that Britain will be worse off, to fish dumped into the River Thames by fishermen angry at European quotas.

A year before Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019, allegations that the main campaign for leaving the EU broke the law have revived memories of the bitter referendum battle.

Despite the issue dominating discussions in parliament and the pages of newspapers, voters' views seem entrenched as ever.

"People now think of themselves as Leavers or Remainers and see developments from that perspective," Sara Hobolt, a professor of politics at the London School of Economics, told Reuters. She estimates that 80 to 90 percent of Britons have not changed their minds since 2016.

Some senior figures, such as former Prime Minister Tony Blair, have demanded a second referendum on the final deal agreed with the EU, so people could have a say in full knowledge of the possible outcome. But polls and research suggest there is no overwhelming support for another vote.

Even if there was another plebiscite, the surveys show Britons are still deeply divided and most would probably vote the same way.

"Tony Blair -- he should keep his snout out," said retired 68-year-old Michael Cutting, who voted Leave and has lived in Great Yarmouth his whole life.

His view is shared by many in the rundown holiday resort, a once bustling fishing port some 140 miles (200 km) northeast of London, where paint peels off windswept ferris wheels and mainly elderly visitors wander past its "Golden Mile" sandy beach and drab amusement arcades.

"NO MESSING AROUND"

Great Yarmouth has the country's lowest percentage of college graduates -- 14.2 percent -- and a high rate of unemployment. In 2016, 71.5 percent of votes cast here were for Leave, putting it in one of the top 10 Brexit-supporting areas in the country.

"I think we should all get out of [the EU] now, straight away, no messing around," said Philip Blake, 60, between chopping cuts of prime British beef for display at his family-run butchers.

"They're taking too long over it now. Just go. Hard Brexit, whatever, I don't mind."

While an EU flag flies in tatters beside Great Yarmouth's seaside promenade, in the affluent university city of Norwich just 21 miles (34 km) away, the sentiment about Europe could hardly be more different but the intransigence is the same.

"I hate it, I really do," said Gaye Sorah, 59, who was close to tears at the thought of Brexit. "One year to go, it’s a disaster. I just wish we could rewind the clock."

Norwich, where tourists wander between the market's stalls, chattering in a variety of tongues while students cycle down medieval cobbled streets, bucked the trend for the region with 56 percent of voters backing staying in the EU.

"I could see no advantage in leaving, particularly not on a dream of empires past," Butcher said. "I’ve not changed my mind at all and it's a source of some amusement to me that as the ramifications become clear ... that a lot of other people’s minds are being concentrated."

Expressions of such regret are hard to find, but dishing out bags of chunky fries from his van in Great Yarmouth, Robin Platten thinks he was wrong to vote to leave.

"I've been thinking maybe I might have made a mistake," Platten, 60, whose family have run the Brewer Chip Saloon takeaway stall in the town's market since 1902.

"It's a great big tunnel with no light at the end of it, as far as I'm concerned," he told Reuters. "I think maybe everybody should be given a second chance for the mistakes that they've made. But I don't think that's going to happen."

Even some voters who backed remain have no desire to see the process dragging on, however -- despite their continued misgivings.

"I think we may as well get on with it now," said Kathryn Fabian, 20, a student in Norwich. "I feel like we had our say back then, it's been decided. Let's just move on." REUTERS

Posted by: Taman Tun

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Cambridge Analytica is now said to not only have meddled in the US elections but also in the brexit vote:

"In an exclusive interview, Brittany Kaiser, Cambridge Analytica’s business development director until two weeks ago, said the work with Leave.EU involved analysis of data provided by Ukip." (The Guardian])

Posted by: Taman Tun

Johnnie, this is a far more controversial topic than Driving in Thailand. I have no skin in the game as I Brexited many years ago. However, if I were still in the UK I would definitely be a Brexiteer. I do not like the idea of a Union of Socialist European States, just look what happened to the USSR.

Posted by: thaiga

Leaving the single market would be damaging to almost every sector of the British economy from manufacturing and energy to retail and financial services, according to a new report commissioned by an alliance of Tory, Labour and Liberal Democrat politicians trying to stop a hard Brexit.

The study, by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, found every major wealth-creating sector would be affected negatively, with manufacturing hit if there are tariff barriers to EU trade and the creative industries suffering a “body blow” if there were strict controls on immigration.

The report examines the consequences of leaving the single market in favour of a free trade agreement struck on a bespoke basis for individual industries.

Theresa May has hinted she favours this so-called “sectoral” approach but the CEBR report warns that “all major sectors are linked to the EU and could be harmed if the UK government sought a free trade agreement which prioritised some sectors over others”.

The release of the report comes at a time of growing mobilisation among MPs and political figures trying to stop the UK heading for a clean break with the EU single market and customs union, which is favoured by the most Eurosceptic cabinet ministers and leading Brexit campaigners such as Michael Gove.

For the first time since the referendum, MPs from across the parties – Tory Anna Soubry, Chuka Umunna of Labour and Nick Clegg from the Liberal Democrats – will appear together at an Open Britain event, pushing for continued membership of the single market.

Soubry will accuse those backing of a sector-by-sector deal of pursing a “simplistic fantasy”.

Posted by: thaiga

I see the euro is following suit, Bank Note Buying Rates @ 37.69 bangkokbank.com today

Theresa May to tell EU's other leaders 'there will be no second referendum'

Theresa May is to warn her 27 fellow European Union leaders over a working dinner in Brussels that Britain’s decision to leave is irreversible and there can be no second referendum.

Thursday’s meeting of the European council will be the prime minister’s first opportunity to address the leaders of all the other member states since the UK voted to leave the European Union in June.

Donald Tusk, the European council president, has insisted Britain’s future relationship with the EU will not be on the formal agenda for the two-day meeting, but he will give May the opportunity to set out the “current state of affairs in the country” over coffee at the end of the meal.

A No 10 source said she would tell her fellow EU leaders: “The British people have made a decision and it’s right and proper that that decision is honoured. There will be no second referendum. The priority now has got to be looking to the future, and the relationship between the UK, once we leave”.

The source added that the prime minister would also seek to reassure the other member states, amid growing fears that Brexit could unleash political and economic instability in Britain and the rest of Europe.

“She wants the outcome at the end of this process to be a strong UK, as a partner of a strong EU,” the source said. “She doesn’t want the process of the UK leaving to be damaging for the rest of the EU. She wants it to be a smooth, constructive, orderly process.”

With speculation rife about how Britain plans to conduct the negotiations, Tusk wants to avoid a discussion and will not invite other EU leaders to respond. May’s remarks are down as an “any other business point”, underscoring that Britain is far down the priority list for the summit despite public interest in the issue.

British diplomats in Brussels have been pressing for preparatory talks before May launches article 50, the EU exit process, which she has promised by the end of March 2017. So far their entreaties have been rebuffed and EU diplomats insist the consensus on “no negotiations without notification” is intact.

Posted by: thaiga

Downing Street has said it is "very likely" MPs will be able to vote on the final Brexit agreement reached between the UK and the European Union.

Number 10 confirmed the comment by a government lawyer in the High Court represented the "government's view".

The vote would take place after negotiations have taken place and with Brexit already triggered using Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

Campaigners have been calling for a vote before Article 50 is triggered.

Open Britain, formerly the Remain campaign, said the government's comments were an "encouraging sign" but renewed calls for a debate and vote earlier in the process, before Article 50 begins two years of formal negotiations.

The UK is expected to leave the European Union in 2019.

Prime Minister Theresa May opposes a vote before Article 50, saying those calling for one are "trying to subvert" the outcome of June's referendum.

The issue is currently the subject of a landmark legal challenge, with the government defending what it says is its right to invoke Article 50 without Parliamentary approval.

It's the question pre-occupying many MPs as Britain prepares to leave the EU. What role will they have in shaping and approving the final withdrawal deal the UK reaches with Brussels? Theresa May plans to begin talks with the EU by the end of March and negotiations will last for two years.

The government's legal team have now clarified what they believe happens then.

James Eadie QC said it was "very likely" the UK and the EU would agree a new treaty that would have to be ratified by Parliament.

A law passed in 2010 gave MPs the power to block a treaty indefinitely. But in practice, would Parliament at that point derail the UK's withdrawal agreement with the EU?

David Pannick QC, acting for one of the claimants in the High Court case, said even if Parliament refused to approve the final Brexit deal, the UK would have to leave the EU anyway - with or without an agreement. That is why, he argued, parliament needed to vote before formal talks began.

Judges who heard the case said they would give their decision "as quickly as possible". An appeal to the Supreme Court later in the year is expected, whatever the outcome.

During the High Court hearing, government lawyer James Eadie QC moved on to what was likely to happen at the end of the negotiations, in 2019, saying: "The government view at the moment is it is very likely that any such agreement will be subject to ratification."

If this vote ends with MPs rejecting the Brexit deal, the UK would still leave the EU, Lord Pannick, who is acting for the campaigners challenging the government, told the court.

"Parliament cannot reverse the notification," he said.

The UK would either leave with no agreement or reach a new one, he said, adding: "But the new agreement cannot restore the rights that are irretrievably lost, and whether there is a new agreement is out of the hands of Parliament."

Labour's shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said: "A vote so late in the day would put MPs between a rock and a hard place. It would ask us to choose between a deal on the government's terms or leaving the European Union with no deal at all."

UK voters opted in favour of leaving the EU by 51.9% to 48.1% in a referendum in June.

Posted by: thaiga

Who would have forecast all this when we moved here, the pound looks like it's found it's place at a steady 42 + at the moment So guys looks like the 30 bht noodle stalls are on the menu if your from the uk.

UK 'may still have to pay into EU even after Brexit'

Whitehall officials believe the UK may need to make big payments to the EU to secure preferential trading terms after Brexit, BBC Newsnight has learned.

During the EU referendum, Vote Leave claimed leaving the EU could save the UK £350m a week in contributions.

But an unnamed cabinet minister has told Newsnight that the UK may end up "paying quite a lot" of that money to secure access to the single market.

The government said it would not give a "running commentary" on negotiations.

The UK's contributions to the EU became one of the most contentious issues in the EU referendum campaign after Vote Leave pledged to repatriate £350m a week - its estimate of the UK's gross weekly contributions to the EU.

This is reduced by subsidies paid to the UK and by the UK budget rebate.

But a leading light in the Brexit campaign said they now expected the UK could still end up paying as much as £5bn a year into EU funds, in return for access to the single market.

This is roughly half of what the UK would have expected to contribute to the EU - estimated by the Office for Budget Responsibility to average around £9.6bn a year from 2015.

A senior official has described the prospect of continuing UK contributions to the EU as the "dog that hasn't barked" after Prime Minister Theresa May made no reference to the issue when she set out her red lines for her forthcoming EU negotiations last week.

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Instead, he told MPs that his newly set up department already has over 180 staff in London, plus the expertise of over 120 officials in Brussels, "and we are still growing rapidly with first class support from other government departments."

Posted by: thaiga

Brexit minister already has team of 300 working on arranging Britain's exit from EU

British politicians returned to the Houses of Parliament Monday with the fallout from the decision to quit the European Union top of the agenda.

It was a baptism of fire for the MP (member of the parliament) David Davis, making his debut on the front benches as Theresa May's newly appointed Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, also known as the government's Brexit Minister.

In his first major speech as Brexit Secretary, Davis reiterated the message from Theresa May that there will be no attempt to stay in the EU by the back door, no attempt to delay, frustrate or thwart the will of the British people and no attempt to engineer a second referendum.

Instead, he told MPs that his newly set up department already has over 180 staff in London, plus the expertise of over 120 officials in Brussels, "and we are still growing rapidly with first class support from other government departments."

Davis said: "The people have spoken in the referendum and all of us, on both sides of the argument, must respect the result. That is a simple matter of democratic politics. Naturally, people want to know what Brexit will mean.

"Simply, it means the UK leaving the European Union. We will decide on our borders, our laws, and taxpayers' money.

"It means getting the best deal for Britain -- one that is unique to Britain and not an 'off the shelf' solution. This must mean controls on the numbers of people who come to Britain from Europe -- but also a positive outcome for those who wish to trade in goods and services."

But pro-remain politicians waiting to hear details of what Brexit means, were disappointed if they expected full details.

"Is that it," they shouted across the chamber of the House of Commons, protesting that Davis had failed to hand over more details.

During questions from MPs, Davis gave the strongest hint that a single market deal with Europe would be improbable if the EU demanded Britain giving up control of its borders as a condition.

Davis added: "Brexit is not about making the best of a bad job. It is about: place for Britain in the world. There will be new freedoms, new opportunities, and new horizons for this great country."

"We can create a more dynamic economy, a beacon for free trade across the world. We can create an immigration system that allows us to control numbers and encourage the brightest and the best to come to this country," he said.

Posted by: thaiga

Germany's vice-chancellor has warned the future of the EU could be in doubt if the UK's exit is handled badly.

Sigmar Gabriel said the EU would go "down the drain" if other states followed Britain's lead and that the UK could not keep the "nice things" about Europe while taking no responsibility.

It comes as Theresa May summoned ministers for a meeting on Wednesday to discuss ideas for the UK's withdrawal.

Downing Street said Brexit was "top" of the prime minister's agenda.

But a report in The Sunday Times suggested her cabinet was split over leaving the single market.

The UK voted to leave the European Union in a referendum vote on 23 June.

Mr Gabriel, who is also economy minister in Germany's governing coalition and Chancellor Angela Merkel's deputy, told a news conference that as a result, the world now regarded Europe as an unstable continent.'Deep trouble'

"Brexit is bad but it won't hurt us as much economically as some fear - it's more of a psychological problem and it's a huge problem politically," he said.

"If we organise Brexit in the wrong way, then we'll be in deep trouble, so now we need to make sure that we don't allow Britain to keep the nice things, so to speak, related to Europe while taking no responsibility."

Mrs Merkel has met a number of European leaders during the past week to prepare the ground for a September summit focused on the EU's future post-Brexit.

She has said remaining member states must listen to each other carefully and avoid rushing into policy decisions.

Meanwhile, Mrs May is due to begin drawing up blueprints for Brexit on Wednesday, when she hosts cabinet ministers at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat in Buckinghamshire.

BBC political correspondent Chris Mason said Mrs May would hear different answers to the question "what does Brexit actually mean?" from around the cabinet table and in Parliament.

Trade talks

It comes as a new cross-party group called Open Britain was launched.

In a joint article for the group in the Sunday Times, three former ministers from the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats accept that the free movement of people cannot continue, but they warn against "pulling up the drawbridge."

Mr Gabriel also said on Sunday that trade talks between the EU and the US had "de facto failed".

The plan - known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership or TTIP - aimed to remove or reduce a wide range of barriers to EU-US trade and investment.

However, the move has been controversial in many of countries involved, including Germany and the UK. Critics say TTIP is driven by big business and would be bad for jobs, consumers and the environment.

In 14 rounds of talks, the two sides had not agreed on a single common chapter out of 27 being discussed, Mr Gabriel said.

"In my opinion the negotiations with the United States have de facto failed, even though nobody is really admitting it," said Mr Gabriel.'Don't submit'

He suggested Washington was angry about a deal the EU struck with Canada, because it contained elements the US does not want to see in the TTIP.

"We mustn't submit to the American proposals," said Mr Gabriel, who is head of Germany's centre-left Social Democratic Party, which is in coalition with Mrs Merkel's centre-right Christian Democratic Union.

The BBC's Andrew Walker said ending the negotiations would not be a decision for Mr Gabriel, as he is the leader of centre-left Social Democratic Party, which is in coalition with Mrs Merkel's centre-right Christian Democratic Union.

Nonetheless, Mr Gabriel is an important voice and his view that TTIP has in effect failed is a sign of just how much political difficulty it faces, our correspondent added.

He has also been forced to defend his actions after he flicked the middle finger to a group of right-wing protesters earlier this month.

Sigmar Gabriel said his only mistake was not using both hands, and told his critics to think about what they would do if faced with 12 "young, aggressive, swearing and ready-for-violence Nazis".

Posted by: thaiga

Within moments of Theresa May’s confirmation as the next prime minister of Britain, London tabloids and wags were comparing her to Britain’s “iron lady” of the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher. But those taking a closer look see more in common with Europe’s most powerful woman today: Germany’s “iron chancellor,” Angela Merkel.

Both women have a track record of cautious pragmatism. Merkel famously will sit on the fence on many issues waiting for consensus to build before she commits herself to whichever side is more likely to work. May demonstrated her own grasp of patient tactics, opting to stay on the policy sidelines during Britain’s bruising referendum on European Union membership — positioned in the middle, seemingly the best spot from which to take charge of a divided Conservative Party in the wake of David Cameron’s resignation.

“It’s often said that you cannot tell what Merkel thinks about an issue until the last moment, if even then. May seems to be similarly inscrutable. She waits for her moment,” said Hans Kundnani, a London-based foreign policy analyst at the German Marshall Fund think tank.

Posted by: KiwiCanadian

I wonder why Boris dropped out? There he was with the ball in front of an open goal and for some reason he just walked off the pitch. There must be some scandal to be revealed. Boris is well known for his womanizing but some politicians can get away with it. Boris and Kennedy to name but two. Whatever the scandal their political reputations are undamaged. On the other hand Clinton could not survive a quick gobble. I can only think that a photo exists of Boris in bed with two boys.

The rumor I heard was that his campaign manager (the link to Boris's money people) stabbed him in the back and decided to run himself, so Boris has no campaign money.

Posted by: Taman Tun

I wonder why Boris dropped out? There he was with the ball in front of an open goal and for some reason he just walked off the pitch. There must be some scandal to be revealed. Boris is well known for his womanizing but some politicians can get away with it. Boris and Kennedy to name but two. Whatever the scandal their political reputations are undamaged. On the other hand Clinton could not survive a quick gobble. I can only think that a photo exists of Boris in bed with two boys.

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Investors in Standard Life’s property funds have been told that they cannot withdraw their money, after the firm acted to stop a rush of withdrawals following the UK’s decision to leave the EU. (guardian)

NEWSFLASH: Aviva, the savings and investment group, has suspended redemptions from its £1.8bn property fund.

It took the decision following the Brexit vote, which triggered a surge of requests from investors to pull their money out of its UK Property Trust. (guardian)

...and the Pound went down further!

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Now Nigel Farage resigns as Ukip leader after 'achieving political ambition' of Brexit. The third time already! Anybody shedding tears?

And George Osborne wants to cut corporation tax to keep companies from leaving the island/sinking ship, presumably expecting the EU to praise him for doing just the opposite of what they're strongly enforcing and then give GB after Brexit best conditions for trade with the EU. What's wrong with British politicians? Did they all loose their minds? And will investors risk more investments upon such a "stabilizing", or better nonsensical, move, that can only lead to a tax raise again in future?

Though she is not supposed to interfere with politics, maybe the Queen should have a word now.

Posted by: thaiga

Crowds are set to march through London on Saturday in protest against Britain's vote to leave the EU, which has plunged the government into political turmoil and left the country deeply polarised.

Demonstrators plan to gather on Park Lane around 11am (5pm Thailand time) before making their way towards the Houses of Parliament, in the second show of public anger this week over the shock results of the referendum.

"We can prevent Brexit by refusing to accept the referendum as the final say and take our finger off the self-destruct button," said organiser Keiran MacDermott on the march's Facebook page.

Inside the halls of power, the favourites to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron in the ruling Conservative Party have been pushing for a delay in starting the process that will see Britain leave the 28-member European Union.

Contender Michael Gove said Friday he had "no expectation" that Article 50 -- the formal procedure for leaving the EU -- would be invoked this year, echoing similar comments from his frontrunner rival Theresa May.

But EU leaders have called for a swift divorce, fearful of the impact of Britain's uncertain future on economic growth and a potential domino effect in eurosceptic member states.

"The decision has been taken, it cannot be delayed and it cannot be cancelled," said French President Francois Hollande Friday, on the sidelines of Battle of the Somme centenary ceremonies.

A speedy Brexit "would avert all the uncertainties and instability, especially in the economic and financial domains," he said. "The faster it goes, the better it will be for them."

Last week's shock vote plunged financial markets into crisis, wiping trillions off equities around the world and sending the pound to its lowest point in more than three decades against the dollar.

Bank of England chief Mark Carney hinted on Thursday he could unleash monetary stimulus this summer, saying that the economic outlook had "deteriorated" since Britain voted to leave the EU.

In further signs of the fallout, the government warned it would likely abandon its promise to achieve a budget surplus by 2020, while no-frills airline EasyJet announced contingency plans to protect its European operations.

'Liars, liars'

The vote to leave the EU was deeply split. Voters in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the capital London backed remaining, while the 52% that chose to leave were largely from less affluent areas in England and Wales.

The narrow victory has triggered anger in Britain among those who wanted to remain in the EU and more than four million people have signed a petition calling for a second referendum.

Thousands gathered in London's Trafalgar Square on Tuesday, defying pouring rain to vent their anger at the result of the June 23 referendum as they marched towards Westminster.

Posted by: thaiga

The independent.co.uk. seems to think - A Brexit won't happen in the end - Even though people voted for it - a few points (below) why they think it won't happen. Already many people who voted out are already feeling a bit betrayed as certain fundamental truths sink in. Most important to people is the value their homes, which is where most people’s wealth is stored.

Here are the reasons, in some sort of logical order, why Brexit won’t happen:

The margin for Leave was pretty small, in reality, and so the mandate is weak. Most countries have a constitutional convention that big changes have to command a two-thirds vote in a legislature or referendum, and this was nowhere near it. In the early 1970s, when Ted Heath took us in (without a referendum), the phrase used by him was that he needed the “full-hearted consent” of the British people to take such a momentous decision. It probably wasn’t there in 1971-72, but it certainly isn’t there now. Some Brexiteers are suffering profound regret, and we may as well acknowledge that, such is the gravity of the situation. They do not want to wait the many years, perhaps decades it will take for Brexit to be the better option for them and their families (ironically it is the young who have time on their side to enjoy the post-Brexit future, but I won’t press that point).

Voters don't actually get to decide

We live in a democracy where Parliament is sovereign. That means that only Parliament can give effect to the will of the people. David Lammy's idea that Parliament can just ignore the referendum is going too far, but it is true that Parliament's job is to decide what to do next. So what shall we do next?

The EU has too much to lose

Whoever takes over from David Cameron will, as recent events show, be under intense pressure not to press the exit button and activate “Article 50”, which puts us more or less on the escalator out. He or she may well be tempted to go back to Brussels and ask for a better deal within the EU.

If they had any sense – and Angela Merkel does – the European leaders will see the danger of Brexit contagion and offer the British, and the wider Eurosceptic movement across Europe, something that recognises people’s concerns, meaning probably some brakes on migration. This, on top of what David Cameron managed to secure, could form the basis for a second referendum choice – Brexit or the “New Deal”. Of course the EU’s establishment should have given that to Mr Cameron in the first place, but, as they say, we are where we are. I notice this is basically the suggestion now being put about by Jeremy Hunt; it will gain a lot of support outside Ukip, I suspect.

Hardly any Tories want to leave - including Boris Johnson

It will be highly attractive for whoever does succeed David Cameron to be seen as the leader who at last settled the European issue to Britain's satisfaction for ever. Theresa May, after all, is a Remainer, albeit reluctant, so we see where her instincts lie. Boris Johnson, let us recall, also first advocated voting Leave as a way for Britain to go back and get a better deal in his earliest intervention in the campaign, just after he declared for Leave. I quote, then, from an article Boris wrote, published on 16 March (I’ve retained the stuff about the economy, which is also of interest: “There is only one way to get the change we need, and that is to vote to go, because all EU history shows that they only really listen to a population when it says No… It is time to seek a new relationship, in which we manage to extricate ourselves from most of the supranational elements.

“The people who run the various EU institutions – whom we like to ply with crass abuse – are, in my experience, principled and thoughtful officials… They just have a different view of the way Europe should be constructed. I would hope they would see a vote to leave as a challenge, not just to strike a new and harmonious relationship with Britain (in which those benefits could be retained) but to recover some of the competitiveness that the continent has lost in the last decades.”Some of Boris’ Tory colleagues think he didn’t believe a word of what he was saying in the campaign, and that the whole thing was just a vehicle for his ambition. Hence, perhaps, his confused flip-flopping on whether he wants us in the Single Market. If so, then one can see him executing an almighty U-turn in about six months’ time and recommending a Remain vote with him leading the opposite campaign to the one just gone. He has the shamelessness, ambition and dexterity to do just that, in true Churchillian style.

A general election will change everything

If there is a general election and Labour get in (strange as it may be) maybe with SNP and Lib Dem support, they will not want to apply to leave the EU formally without going back to Brussels for a deal. Indeed they would be quite desperate to do so and would claim the general election result gave them a mandate for that. We’d almost certainly have a second referendum then, and probably a narrow Remain win.

We all know that if there was a referendum on holding a second referendum, the people would be in favour of having another vote. It is certainly the general view in Parliament, and of course we now have the Scottish and Irish dimensions to the problem now crystallising, as well as economic realities. People want to think again, and the politicians have a duty to let them.

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Tax rises and spending cuts will be needed to deal with the "shock" to the UK economy caused by leaving the EU, Chancellor George Osborne has said.

"We are absolutely going to have to provide fiscal security to people, in other words we are going to have to show the country and the world that the country can live within its means."

Asked if that meant tax rises and spending cuts, he said: "Yes, absolutely. But that decision will come under a new prime minister - it's obviously not possible while the Conservative Party is having a leadership contest."

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Britain got kicked out of the Euro Cup by Iceland 2:1, but worst is, that the fans who came had to pay 12% more for the beer needed after that, thanks to BREXIT vote's aftermath.

After 50 years S&P downgraded Britain from AAA to AA and set the outlook to negative, which means Britain will have it harder to borrow money they need to restructure their country.

Brits with Irish ancestry or born in Northern Ireland before 2005 are rushing to get Irish passports. Brits residing in EU countries also rush to apply for citizenship of those countries: British EU officials in Brussels applying for Belgian citizenship etc..

But as long as British politicians have not submitted their article 50 intend to leave the EU there is status quo, i. e. Britain still a member of the EU. Brit politicians now seem in no hurry to do what they promised their electorate (scared EU with).

Posted by: thaiga

British expats can see no immediate effects from Brexit. However, they say Thailand now may look a more appealing retirement option than Europe for those looking to retire outside their home country.

Simon Landy, vice-chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand, said Brexit may have an impact on Britons looking to retire outside of the UK. In that case, Thailand could be a good option. About 1.2 million British citizens live in the EU.

Thailand offers many things that appeal, such as a low cost of living. "The only real disadvantage is distance. So for people who are looking to spend several months or a year in a friendly, welcoming, warm climate, Thailand is very attractive," he said.

"Much will depend on the nature of the settlements which the UK makes with the EU,'' said Mr Landy, who is also executive chairman of Colliers International Thailand.

Justin Moseley, managing director of Consortium UK, said he is "delighted" by Brexit, citing the difference in culture, language and laws.

"We don't know exactly what's going to happen, but I don't think it would make much difference," said Mr Moseley, who has lived in Thailand for 23 years.

He added that while more Britons might come to Thailand to retire, he is "embarrassed about the behaviour of some of the people who retire here now".

George McLeod, a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said one negative impact of Brexit will be the weakening of the pound, which fell to a 31-year-low against major currencies. However, the impact will be shortlived.

The negotiations over Britain's status in the EU would involve many checks and balances, and Britain would not isolate itself from its biggest trading partners.

Dominic Faulder, a foreign correspondent and author, said he didn't expect any significant effects of Brexit, apart from concerns that it would restrict the options of his children if they wanted to work in Europe.

Posted by: thaiga

I wonder how it will effect the British expats in thailand - here's a piece from ctvnews.ca Dawson, a 51-year-old Englishman who has lived in Spain since the 1990s, admits the decoupling of Britain from the EU other 27 member nations has him spooked.

His future is suddenly uncertain.

"We're very scared because I've been here 23 years. I've got my house, my kids were born here, they went to a British-Spanish school, I've got a bar, I've got a lot to lose," Dawson said at his pub, which was decked out with the red-and-white English flags featuring the St. George's Cross.

EU leaders are due soon to begin unprecedented -- and knotty -- negotiations on how to extricate the U.K. from the bloc. Crucially for British expatriates, EU laws stipulate that the bloc's citizens have the same rights as those nationals in any other member nation.

Nobody is saying what the rights of Britons living in the EU might be in a future outside the bloc. Dawson worries about losing his entitlements in Spain, which is part of the EU.

"We don't know how we're going to be now," he said. "We might have no pension. We might have no medical. We may have to sell our properties. We've lived here for a lot of years. We don't know how it's going to affect us anymore."

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Nigel Farage on May 16 to the Mirror: “In a 52-48 referendum this would be unfinished business by a long way. If the remain campaign win two-thirds to one-third that ends it.” Sad, he doesn't want to hear of that threshold set by himself anymore.

Posted by: Johnnie F.

The Telegraph devoted a long and detailed article to the possibilities of BREGRET. "It isn't over until it's over!" means Britain's membership will last at least until two years after notifying of article 50, it's intention to leave. Lots of things can happen till then... GB could even apply to join the EU later again.

There is also a good article in English on Spiegel.de about the advantages for the EU, if Britain is actually leaving.

Posted by: Johnnie F.

We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out. Churchill

That's a huge problem right now: Many Brits, who feel regret, cannot voice it. On the other hand politicians in the EU have a hard time to not express their content about GB leaving on their own volition, because they had been blocking too much. As a problem within the EU the loss of balance is seen by some countries, fearing Germany and France could becoming too powerful now.

"...after an emergency meeting of ministers from the bloc’s six founder members, Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said negotiations should begin “as soon as possible” and that Britain had a responsibility to work with the EU on exit terms.

His French counterpart, Jean-Marc Ayrault, suggested that unless the UK acted fast, the sense of crisis could spread. He said there was “a certain urgency … so that we don’t have a period of uncertainty, with financial consequences, political consequences”. The president of the European commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, reinforced the message, saying the split with the UK was “not an amicable divorce” after what was not “a tight love affair, anyway”. Talks to end membership should begin immediately. (guardian)

"The whole world is reeling after a milestone referendum in Britain to leave the European Union. And although leaders of the campaign to exit Europe are crowing over their victory, it seems many Britons may not even know what they had actually voted for. "Even though I voted to leave, this morning I woke up and I just — the reality did actually hit me," one woman told the news channel ITV News. "If I'd had the opportunity to vote again, it would be to stay." That confusion over what Brexit might mean for the country's economy appears to have been reflected across the United Kingdom on Thursday. Google reported sharp upticks in searches not only related to the ballot measure but also about basic questions concerning the implications of the vote. At about 1 a.m. Eastern time, about eight hours after the polls closed, Google reported that searches for "what happens if we leave the EU" had more than tripled.

The run-up to the vote was marked by a bitterly divided campaign, one that was as much about immigration fears as it was about the global economy. But despite the all-out attempts by either side to court voters, Britons were not only mystified by what would happen if they left the E.U.— many seemed not to even know what the European Union is. What is the E.U.? To be fair, that question will now take on a much deeper significance than perhaps Google's users realized when they typed that into their browsers."

Reading European newspapers, many portray BREXIT as the chance to restructure the EU - and move closer together.

Posted by: Johnnie F.

At the moment the EU is pushing for speeding up Article 50, but British politicians are trying to win time:

"Johnson, the favourite to succeed Cameron, has also said there is no need to hurry triggering the formal process, a move he believes would limit the UK’s room for manoeuvre." (guardian)

Guess the whole (lost) BREXIT gamble of not getting what they had asked for will change Britain's political landscape drastically. As I said before: "Who wants to pick up the pieces?"

Britain will have a hard time now finding politicians to take responsibility. The "old gits" will have to move out for the young. Actually, that was how I used to see Britain 40 - 50 years ago: as a young country with some old advisers. Now it has changed to an over-aged country with young advisers, who are not allowed to speak, "because they're immature dummies". If Britain wants to have a future they'll have to give more power to the young, not let "old gits" determine their future.

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Jonathan Hill (The Lord Hill of Oareford), the European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, neither wants to pick up the pieces Johnson and Farage left, has also declared to resign.

And Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, urges Britain to hand in its notification of intent to leave, invoke Article 50 of the EU Lisbon Treaty, which sets out a two-year timetable for negotiations on withdrawal, at the summit on Tuesday, ending uncertainty.

Theoretically the British parliament can decide to ignore the referendum, but will it dare? That depends partly on the number of people who signed the petition for a second referendum. That stands at

Posted by: thaiga

I'm in the just get over it camp and make the best of what you can - if there is any british spirit left in der country man. But .....

I wonder if the people who voted knew what they were voting for. The expats on a pension living in an EU country, things could go tits up so easily, lets hope it don't.

Those who supported the referendum are already voicing their regret, saying they didn’t think their vote would matter.The regret is hitting in now.

A BBC interview with a man who voted in favor of the successful Brexit measure to have the U.K. leave the European Union has gone viral after he stated that he didn’t think his vote “was going to matter” and that he is “worried” about its ramifications.

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Things have not gone quite according to plan for Bo Jo. He was hoping for a narrow Remain victory which would enable him to take over from Cameron after a decent interval. Instead he is now faced with having to deal with unraveling from the EU starting from his very first day on the job.

That's exactly the point: an ambitious politician for personal gain led people in populist manner to a disaster he won't be able to help them out anymore. What are the people doing about it, once they have realized what went wrong? Watching that to unfold is very interesting for me. It has nothing to do with other "motives".

Posted by: No Brexiteer

Ahh forgive him, JF, it is hot in Australia. Wonder why the chap so aggressively takes side with one side of divided Britain, trying to keep you from reporting about British efforts to redo a mistake? Why should they be hidden? But already these efforts do show the world that Britain isn't so unreliable to let a mistake just sit.

Cheers

No Brexiteer

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Posted by: Aussie

Johnnie F. - Why do you continually push the line of lets return to the EU and minimise the damage? What damage are you talking about? Why aren't you also presenting the line that Britain is better off without the Europhiles and the disasters Brussels has caused. If you want a balanced reaction on this forum present a balanced view.Regards

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Johnnie F. - You keep pushing the line of lets return to the EU and minimise the damage. What a load of . The damage the EU has caused for the real Brits of the UK for the last 43 years is on record. I do not understand why you are so elated that people are signing a petition to reverse the outcome of the referendum. Please come clean with your reasoning. With respect, I am suspicious of your motives. Please prove me wrong.I'm 100 % behind Taman Tun when I say get over it.Regards

The EU will be getting over it easily. But why do you project my impartial reporting of what British people are doing right now as "personal interest"?

Does it hurt you personally? If you don't like it, don't read it, don't answer to it, don't "challenge" it!

Posted by: Aussie

already passed the million mark and stands at 1,015,700 signatures right now. People do understand the necessity of acting fast to minimize the damage done by the referendum.

Johnnie F. - You keep pushing the line of lets return to the EU and minimise the damage. What a load of . The damage the EU has caused for the real Brits of the UK for the last 43 years is on record. I do not understand why you are so elated that people are signing a petition to reverse the outcome of the referendum. Please come clean with your reasoning. With respect, I am suspicious of your motives. Please prove me wrong.I'm 100 % behind Taman Tun when I say get over it.Regards

Posted by: Johnnie F.

It's a British petition; only Brits can vote. And its strings are not pulled by the EU. The EU made things already very clear: Get out fast, to end uncertainties. The Brit government needs to submit its formal resignation. But there seems to be a huge number of British voters who feel cheated and want to reconsider. That is possible until the formal resignation has been submitted. But the EU must push for doing that soon, if at all, so the world can go on with its business as usual.

The vote count on that petition is accelerating very fast: 1,085,516 signatures

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Posted by: Taman Tun

Things have not gone quite according to plan for Bo Jo. He was hoping for a narrow Remain victory which would enable him to take over from Cameron after a decent interval. Instead he is now faced with having to deal with unraveling from the EU starting from his very first day on the job.

And how do EU politicians react: "The EU’s top leaders have said they expect the UK to act on its momentous vote to leave the union “as soon as possible, however painful that process may be” and that there will be “no renegotiation”.

The presidents of the European council, commission and parliament – Donald Tusk, Jean-Claude Juncker and Martin Schulz respectively – and Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said any delay to Britain’s exit would “unnecessarily prolong uncertainty”. (Guardian)

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Dear Customer,Due to recent fluctuations in currency values and exchange rates we have reviewed our pricing across all currencies and wish to inform you we will be making some changes to our pricing.Where possible we have aimed to bring the benefit of these currency value changes to our customers (for example .co.uk domains will now be priced at 6.51 USD {previously 7.10 USD}) but there will be some domains which are now more expensive, particularly in the GBP and EUR currencies.A full list of the new pricing is attached to this email.As these market fluctuations are ongoing and unpredictable, we may be forced to make further changes at short notice in the coming weeks. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we attempt to limit the impact of these external forces.Thank you very much for you continued business, we hope that the changes are beneficial to your personal requirements.Yours truly,The Internet.bs team

That's what our domain host wrote to me yesterday, announcing, that the domain koratfart.com will cost more in future, if paid in GBP or EUR.

Posted by: Johnnie F.

I agree, it badly needs that now. But with a 52/48 split it will most likely drift the opposite direction.

What Britain needs most now, is unification, not one half suppressing the other half, with only a hand full deciding who suppresses and who gets suppressed. It needs to be a united kingdom, not just using that as name!

Quote

England has a wonderful and prosperous future.

Unless British people and British politicians do run it down even further with more "bar-room politics" and boulevard media manipulation.

Quote

God bless the true Brits.As a German, what is your agenda in promoting the EU?Regards

Dear Aussie,

you might not believe how often I heard Brits in Korat "play the nationalist card"! They need help as much as Germans "playing the nationalist card". Because all of those have not understood, that in today's world not only Big Money and Big Business think and act global; people gotta adjust to that, too, especially mentally, if they want to be able to keep their stand against those and not become poorer again by their own "turning back the clock" without proper regard to the times having changed not only in one perspective.

You can't understand, why I, as a German, do not think of Germany and Europe in the first place, but of people and the world?

Now try to understand, why a German does invest the effort and money to run a forum in English for Korat! Could it be that there is something else than nationalism?

BTW, you sound like a deceased member of this forum, when he first met me ten years ago on the old Koratfarang forum. When I was attacked there by some Brits and Aussies with nationalism, he - then still thinking nationalistic himself - aggressively advised me to open my own forum instead of using "theirs". I followed his advice, first with Korat-Info and then this here. He then joined both, having understood, that here in Korat, we cannot live like being in our hometown back in Britain or elsewhere, but also need to move here mentally, broaden our perspectives. He became a very good friend. RIP SAF (sicho)

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Johnnie F. If those areas do not want to be part of the UK it would be wise to let them go and let them choose their own future destiny. It is rather that simple. Why struggle with an Albatross tied to ones neck when they want to be free and not subject to domination by others?Regards

We finally agree on something. Now we have to wait! Do you really think any conservative Brit will allow any part of "Great" Britain to "disintegrate" and choose its own future and freedom in today's world?

It wasn't too long ago, 18 September 2014 when Scotland was given a referendum “Should Scotland be an independent country”? The "No" side won, with 2,001,926 (55.3%) voting against independence and 1,617,989 (44.7%) voting in favour. The turnout of 84.6% was the highest recorded for an election or referendum in the United Kingdom since the introduction of universal suffrage.Regards

You can't imagine things to be different now, after a BREXIT, do you?

Posted by: Aussie

Johnnie F. If Northern Ireland, Gibraltar and Scotland do not want to be part of the UK it would be wise to let them go and let them choose their own future destiny. It is rather that simple. Why struggle with an Albatross tied to one’s neck when they want to be free and not subject to domination by England? It wasn't too long ago, 18 September 2014 when Scotland was given a referendum “Should Scotland be an independent country”? The "No" side won, with 2,001,926 (55.3%) voting against independence and 1,617,989 (44.7%) voting in favour. The turnout of 84.6% was the highest recorded for an election or referendum in the United Kingdom since the introduction of universal suffrage.Regards

Posted by: Aussie

Was it a DDOS-attack of BREXIT-supporters, or just too many Brits feeling that things went totally wrong with the referendum?

Johnnie F.- I would guess that the cry babies who didn't get their way are responsible for their own feelings. What went totally wrong with the referendum, for them, is that they lost. Get over it and embrace the challenge to make England great again. England has a wonderful and prosperous future. God bless the true Brits.As a German, what is your agenda in promoting the EU?Regards

Posted by: Aussie

As I said before: "If one makes a mistake, he has two options: reversing the mistake or making the best of it." Cameron tried to make the best by negotiating with and exerting influence on Brussels, just not successfully. Instead of trying to deliver valid and acceptable arguments he reached for the BREXIT "argument". It backfired! He shouldn't have given up trying to negotiate, and attempting "blackmail" instead. It's for others to suffer now. Sorting out the mess will take years anyway; who knows what will be next? Gibraltar, who voted 96% against BREXIT, doesn't want to be part of the "Ununited Kingdom" anymore, their lives are based on relations to Spain. It's a question of survival for them. Will Britain be able to compensate? Most likely not!

So do Scotland (62% against BREXIT)and Northern Ireland (55.7% against BREXIT). Do you think those people will enjoy the English forcing them to give up what they built their lives on? And in London, the mighty metropolis, 59.9% didn't want BREXIT, either. Do you think there only would be a civil war, if the mistake gets corrected? Britain faces hard times!

London is the center of Britain like Bangkok is the center of Thailand. The London elite will defend what they see as their right, what they built their lives on, like the Bangkok elite does, when the peasants of Isaan rise.

Johnnie F. If those areas do not want to be part of the UK it would be wise to let them go and let them choose their own future destiny. It is rather that simple. Why struggle with an Albatross tied to ones neck when they want to be free and not subject to domination by others?Regards

Posted by: Johnnie F.

As I said before: "If one makes a mistake, he has two options: reversing the mistake or making the best of it." Cameron tried to make the best by negotiating with and exerting influence on Brussels, just not successfully. Instead of trying to deliver valid and acceptable arguments he reached for the BREXIT "argument". It backfired! He shouldn't have given up trying to negotiate, and attempting "blackmail" instead. It's for others to suffer now. Sorting out the mess will take years anyway; who knows what will be next? Gibraltar, who voted 96% against BREXIT, doesn't want to be part of the "Ununited Kingdom" anymore, their lives are based on relations to Spain. It's a question of survival for them. Will Britain be able to compensate? Most likely not!

So do Scotland (62% against BREXIT)and Northern Ireland (55.7% against BREXIT). Do you think those people will enjoy the English forcing them to give up what they built their lives on? And in London, the mighty metropolis, 59.9% didn't want BREXIT, either. Do you think there only would be a civil war, if the mistake gets corrected? Britain faces hard times!

London is the center of Britain like Bangkok is the center of Thailand. The London elite will defend what they see as their right, what they built their lives on, like the Bangkok elite does, when the peasants of Isaan rise.

Posted by: Aussie

Hello Johnnie F - I hope the petition fails because if it doesn't then a civil war with blood in the streets and in the homes may be the result. The people have spoken via the ballot box. The future concerns all Brits young and old and we wouldn't be in this current position if we hadn't joined the EU in the first place. Yes, times have changed for the worse and something had to be done to reverse this trend. Another petition for another referendum is certainly divisive and dangerous. The people have spoken and reversed the first mistake and opted out of the EU. Britain will prevail and is now on the right track. As your own words testify, Britain has stood in the rain since then (1975). They stood in the rain under a ripped umbrella provided by the faceless unelected bureaucrats in Brussels and were given the privilege of doing so at the rate of 55 million pounds a day. Regards

Posted by: Johnnie F.

Maybe it was a mistake; I can't tell; at that time I knew a few young Brits, who had come over to Germany to seek their fortunes. In 1974 I was visiting Britain for the first time. Of course I was impressed by it being differently, by the popular culture, that could spread in Britain rather freely, while in Germany it was still suppressed by conservative forces, young people still trying to overcome the shackle of WW2 and gain their own identity for young Germans. Britain was FREEDOM for me at that time. That there could be even more FREEDOM I saw the following year, when I went to the US for the first time. Now Germany has developed into almost as much FREEDOM already. Britain appears more like having stood in the rain since then.

It's a natural process, that people become older, sometimes even more mature, by the time. That's why more younger people expressed their intentions to vote REMAIN than older people. But voting for BREXIT or REMAIN wasn't merely a question of reversing the 1975 decision, since not only the electorate but all circumstances have changed in the meantime. It was a decision about it's future, and that needs to get more careful consideration by the people affected, the young people. I hope the petition to be successful.

If one makes a mistake, he has two options: reversing the mistake or making the best of it.

Posted by: Aussie

Hello Johnnie F - Perhaps the first outcome in 1975 was a mistake? Perhaps joining the EU was the greatest mistake? No mistakes were made at either time as both sides knew the rules. The opposition who lost in the 1975 referendum didn't cry over the results or gather a petition to have the vote taken again.The side with the most votes wins. It's as simple as that. I have great faith and optimism for the Brits. I hope time will make it so.Regards

Posted by: Johnnie F.

That's no reason to repeat a mistake, since it hardly were the same people voting in the same context. But as you might have understood from my previous posts, I personally am pretty unaffected. Germany or my pension won't suffer great losses.

The last time I set foot on that island was in 1986, and I don't see need going there again in my lifetime.

Posted by: Aussie

Hello Johnnie F.- There were no percentage thresholds used for the first referendum for the United Kingdom EC referendum of 5 June 1975. It was the side with the most votes to win, as it was for this referendum. At the time the electorate expressed significant support for EEC membership, with 67% in favour on a 65% turnout. So the rules used then are the same rules used for this 2016 referendum.Regards

Posted by: Johnnie F.

It was extremely naive of Cameron not to set a quorum of 75% participation and a 2/3 majority for a valid result in this highly important matter affecting the whole world to get at least half the voice of the electorate deciding. Neither Johnson asked for that. Both are not qualified to lead Britain and the world out of this man-made crisis. The EU will survive without Britain and not suffer huge losses, but Britain won't become any "greater", but more likely smaller now.

Attempts from Geert Wilders in the Netherlands or Marine Le Pen in France to follow the example neither will make the world any better.

But clever business people playing the stock and money exchange will gain riches; workers and pensioners mainly in Britain and also to some extent in the EU will have to pay the price!

Posted by: Aussie

I'll bet the Chelsea Premier League champions of 2014/15 were mortified that Leicester City won the Premier League title in 2015/2016 in one of the greatest sporting results. If we can get enough signatures to ask for a replay of Leicester City's games maybe we can get the result we want. But of course if we do get a referendum and win it, whats stopping the opposition for applying for another referendum to change it all back again and so on and so on for infinity. Spoilt babies crying over not getting what they wanted. Shame on these people who are unable to abide by the rule of the referee via the ballet box.Regards